Shinnecock can get punters off to a winning start in the opening Morris Vee Sports Bet Maiden Juvenile Plate at the WC Equine Trust charity meeting at Kenilworth tomorrow.
This is the first two-year-old race of the Cape season and Richard Fourie’s mount opened odds-on at 8-10 when World Sports Betting put up the prices on Wednesday. The Var colt is out of a Danehill Dancer mare and went through the ring at R450 000 at the National Yearling Sale in April.
He carries plenty of confidence with Justin Snaith’s brother, Jonathan saying yesterday: “You have to treat first time juveniles with caution because of their inexperience but this one is as quick as they get and he will take a power of beating. Indeed Justin has said that he will be very disappointed if he does get beat.”
Richard Fourie
Snaith Racing is overdue a win in this opening two-year-old race. At one time theirs was always the one to be on but in the past six runnings the yard has only been successful once and 12 months ago Captainofthesea started a warm favourite only to finish out with the washing.
Indeed the winner hasn’t been that easy to find in recent years and in the last four there has only been one winning favourite. Vaughan Marshall won last season’s race and his Lasata is 22-10 second favourite. By Philanthropist out of a Western Winter mare, the colt was withdrawn from the National Sale but the booking of Aldo Domeyer looks significant.
Putontheredlight (9-2) represents three-time champion trainer Sean Tarry who looks like again being Snaith’s main rival for the title. The only other runner in single figures is 9-1 shot Grey Ferrari who will be out to give Greg Ennion a belated 70th birthday present.
Grand Silvano has won four of his last six and the Brett Crawford 15-10 favourite probably has Gyre (3-1) to beat in the Drakenstein Stud Handicap. He has gone up a kilo for his last win whereas Gyre has come down a kilo even though that October 30 run was his first for nearly four months.
A good jockey is an essential ingredient for success in work rider races and Contessa’s Glance ticks all the boxes in the Vaughan Marshall-sponsored race three except for proving an expensive failure in her most recent run. Richard Fourie reported that she was not striding out that day although the course vet could find nothing wrong.
“You can ignore that last run because she is completely sound now and she will return to form,” predicts Jonathan Snaith, adding: “She will be one of the horses to beat.”
She looks value at 9-2, particularly as she is best on ratings, and she can prove too strong for 18-10 favourite Secret Path.
There is much less to choose between 13-10 favourite Vikram and 17-2 shot Dubula than the betting might suggest in the Snaith Racing Maiden (race four). But Vikram possibly has more scope for improvement – he has only had three starts – and therefore gets the vote.
By Michael Clower
